Uefa strikes Champions League and Europa League deals in China

Uefa, European football’s governing body, has agreed deals in China for the Champions League and Europa League competitions for three seasons, from 2012-13 to 2014-15.

Public-service broadcaster CCTV has renewed its rights to the Champions League, and will show one live match, plus highlights each match night on CCTV5. The channel is available in more than 350 million Chinese homes. Additionally, all games will be made available on CCTV’s mobile and internet outlets.

Internet operators Sina and QQ acquired rights to the Champions League and Europa League for streaming through their respective internet portals. They will each stream two live Champions League matches each match night, while QQ has also secured the rights to stream two live Europa League matches each match week. Both operators will stream highlights from both competitions.

The Team Marketing agency, Uefa’s global sales agent for the media rights to the Champions League and Europa League, brokered the deals.

An announcement on the sale of the remaining Europa League rights in China is expected within the next couple of weeks.